Tuesday, September 11, 2007

A Morning Constitutional

David gets worried when I don't take off time very often, but I have been doing it for quite a while and I haven't hurt myself yet. (Tripping and taking off huge swaths of skin doesn't count.)

I ran in high school when it was a class. I worked out in college when it was a class. What happens when the day starts early and ends late enough to make a run a challenge, and my boss expects me in at the beginning of the workday?

I run in the morning. Rather than see what the day will bring me, I make the commitment to get up early and start the day with a little exercise.

Thankfully, my commute isn't horrific and my hours aren't astronomical. If only I was a morning person....

Even with that, it's not easy — especially in the dark of winter when dawn comes along, oh, around noon and never really warms up. Muggy summer mornings are a challenge, too. But it's better than wondering if I will have time, or if the weather will hold, so I can get in a run after work.

I've been known to hit the stairclimber in the evening when the wind is too bitter, and when I have convinced myself that running when it's less than 30ºF (okay, 28ºF) probably isn't good for me. But on those days, I'm not myself and it takes a while to get up to speed.

In the morning, I don't do coffee. I don't do Jolt. I do a 5-mile run. Talk about bracing!